This pickled beets recipe is quick, easy, and makes outrageously delicious, tangy, and slightly sweet beets.

I love homemade pickled beets. This recipe has tangy, slightly sweet flavor with a subtle hint of spice. Plus, since we add onions, you also get pickled onions!

These are refrigerator pickles, which means you can enjoy them as early as tomorrow. For another easy refrigerator pickle, try our dill pickles.

Key Ingredients

• Beets: Look for firm beets with smooth, unblemished skin. Red or yellow beets work well. Before pickling the beets, you’ll first roast them with a bit of olive oil.
• Onion: I love pickled beets and onions, so we always add a few slices of onion to the top of the jar so they pickle with the beets. If you only want to pickle onions, see our pickled red onions recipe.
• Vinegar: Plain distilled vinegar works, but I prefer the flavor of apple cider vinegar.
• Sugar: This balances the acidity of the vinegar. You can reduce the sugar in our recipe below. When making the brine on the stovetop, add sugar to taste. We enjoy the balance of 4 tablespoons (see the full recipe below). That said, you can adjust the amount as needed. You can also substitute the sugar for honey or maple syrup.
• Pickling Spices: I use salt, a clove, and an allspice berry in this pickle brine. Since I don’t use allspice berries very often, I steal one from a jar of pickling spice, which I also use to make these bread and butter pickles.

Find the full recipe with measurements below.

How to Make the Best Pickled Beets

Tip 1: Ready in no time. These are refrigerator pickled beets, which fall into the refrigerator pickle category, requiring no complicated canning process. They are fast and easy to make, and you can enjoy them in as little as a day. For another easy refrigerator pickle, try these dill pickles.

Tip 2: Roast the beets. For the best flavor and texture, roast your beets in the oven until they are tender enough to be pierced with a fork. Roasting them brings out more flavor. If you prefer to boil them, you can, but you’ll lose a little flavor.

Tip 3: Pickle with onions. Once the cooked beets have cooled down, you can peel and slice them. Then, combine them with sliced onions in a jar and prepare a simple vinegar brine using cider vinegar, sugar, cloves, and allspice berries. As the brine works its magic, you’ll end up with a jar full of delightful pickled beets and a bonus of pickled onions.

Tip 4: Enjoying them. Once you have a jar of these pickled beets in your fridge, you’ll discover endless possibilities for enjoying them. They’re a fantastic addition to sandwiches, wraps, and salads, and they stand alone as a hearty and delightful side dish. I especially love them with sharp cheddar cheese and this cucumber salad for a snack or light lunch.

More Homemade Pickles

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This tangy, herby, lemony pickled shrimp recipe is so good you’ll want to make a double batch!

I love these pickled shrimp as a light dinner and for entertaining (they always go quickly). Serve them with crackers, crusty bread and butter, or make a sandwich. They’re even great added to salads and light pasta dishes (like this orzo pasta salad).

I didn’t know how much I loved Southern-style pickled shrimp until our friend Richard introduced us to them. Now, I can’t get enough. Once you try this easy recipe, you’ll be hooked, too. They are seriously good! For another Southern-inspired shrimp recipe, see our easy shrimp and grits!

Key Ingredients

• Shrimp: For the best results, I recommend large or jumbo shrimp. They’re less likely to overcook and dry out. Look for fresh shrimp that feels firm and has a slightly sweet smell. If you’re using frozen shrimp, thaw and drain them before cooking them.
• Lemon: I use lemon juice for the pickling liquid and a whole lemon for the shrimp cooking liquid.
• Cajun or Creole Seasoning: This adds a ton of flavor to both the cooking liquid and the pickling liquid. I love my homemade Cajun seasoning, but feel free to use what you have. I also like to add a bay leaf to the cooking liquid.
• Onion: This might be my favorite part! I love pickled onions, and since we add lots of sliced onion to the pickling brine, you end up with perfect shrimp and pickled onions. I usually use sweet onions, but yellow or red onions work too.
• Apple Cider Vinegar and Oil: These are the base of your pickling liquid. Apple cider vinegar keeps things tangy, and the oil adds richness and helps the pickling liquid turn into more of a dressing.
• Herbs: I love stirring fresh parsley and dill into the shrimp before serving for a bright, fresh flavor.

Find the full recipe with measurements below.

How to Make the Best Pickled Shrimp

Tip 1: Cook your shrimp first. Just like when making shrimp ceviche, I quickly cook my shrimp before they go into the pickling liquid. This way, we can season them perfectly before they soak up all that tangy brine. A quick poach is all you need for the shrimp.

Three minutes in the seasoned water is the sweet spot for plump, juicy shrimp. Once the shrimp are cooked, they go straight into the chilled pickling liquid! Let them hang out in the fridge for at least 20 minutes (or longer if you want).

Tip 2: Use our pickling liquid. The pickling liquid itself is extraordinarily flavorful, made with lemon juice, spices, onion, and herbs. You’ll combine everything in a bowl with ice water to get it nice and cold, then pop it in the fridge while your shrimp cook.

Tip 3: Serving suggestions. When you’re ready to serve, the options are endless! I love them with crackers, buttered toast, or tossed into a salad. And don’t forget about those onions from the brine. They pickle, too, and are seriously delicious!

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I’m obsessed with this pickled peppers recipe and find myself adding them to everything! They only take 20 minutes to prep and last in the fridge for a month.

I’m convinced these pickled peppers make just about anything taste better. When I’m putting together a dish, I’m always surprised at how much a hint of tanginess (from lemon or vinegar) can take the flavor from simply okay to absolutely excellent. These are my secret for adding crunch and that perfect hint of tanginess to everything from taco recipes and sandwiches to my favorite salad recipes, homemade pizza, and so much more!

For the photos, I’ve made a batch of sweet pickled peppers, but this recipe is easily adaptable to all sorts of peppers (even the hottest you can find). It truly depends on what you’re looking for! Feel free to experiment with different peppers or a combination of them to achieve the spice level you love.

Key Ingredients

• Peppers: I love pickled sweet peppers, but this recipe works with any variety of peppers. It depends on what you are looking for. For sweet peppers, we love using mini peppers (like what I used to make these sweet pepper poppers). They are thinner than regular bell peppers, which makes for a better texture in the end. You can use 100% sweet peppers or mix in some hotter varieties, such as banana peppers, cherry peppers, jalapeños, serrano peppers, or even hotter options like Fresno peppers.
• Vinegar: We keep the brine for these peppers simple with regular distilled vinegar (5% acidity). It gives the pickles a clean, classic flavor, allowing the sweetness of the peppers and the garlic to come through (it’s also inexpensive!). Feel free to substitute with rice wine vinegar or white wine vinegar if you prefer.
• Salt and Sugar: These are essential for balancing the brine. Without salt or sugar, our brine would taste too intensely like plain vinegar (we take this approach for most of the pickle recipes on Inspired Taste). For salt, I use sea salt or pickling salt (it’s best to avoid table salt here, as the added iodine can interfere with the pickling process). For the sugar, I use plain granulated sugar as my go-to. You can substitute brown sugar or honey, but this may cause your brine to appear slightly cloudy.
• Garlic and Spices: For a classic flavor, we love adding sliced garlic to the jars (you can mince it, but be prepared for a slightly more intense garlicky flavor in your brine!). Then, for the spices, we keep it simple with an allspice berry (yep, one is enough) and whole peppercorns.
• Optional Chile Pepper: When I use 100% sweet peppers, I like adding a hint of heat with a small dried chile (chile de Arbol is perfect). This is optional and won’t make the pickles spicy. They taste more warm than anything else. For more heat, increase to 2 or 3, or mix in some fresh hot peppers instead.

How to Make Pickled Peppers

These peppers get better over time. Pack your peppers into a jar, then pour the hot brine over them. Transfer them to the fridge once they’ve cooled to room temperature. As they sit overnight, they transform into incredibly crunchy, tangy peppers and continue to improve with each passing day, as the garlic has more time to infuse our brine with its flavor. I can’t wait for you to try them!

More Quick Pickle Recipes

Easy Pickled Peppers

• PREP
  20 mins
  
• TOTAL
  20 mins
  

These crunchy, quick pickled peppers are a great snack, excellent on meat and cheese boards, added to sandwiches and wraps, scattered over cheese pizza, or used in any recipe where you would typically use bell peppers. They keep their crunch but take on a pickled, bright flavor, adding a nice pop of flavor to just about anything!

Note: Just like other quick pickles (like our pickled carrots), these peppers are ready after a night in the fridge, but they continue to improve as they sit in the brine. They really light up around day 3!

Makes One 1-quart jar, 8 Servings

You Will Need

1 pound mini sweet peppers

2 cloves garlic, finely sliced

1 dried chile de arbol, optional

16 ounces (470ml) distilled vinegar, 5% acidity

1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt or pickling salt

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 allspice berry

5 whole peppercorns

Directions

1Prepare the peppers: Cut the tops off of the peppers and scrape or tap out the seeds and most of the white membrane. Slice into rings. Place the pepper rings into a clean 1-quart jar.

2Add the chile and garlic: Place the sliced garlic and chile de arbol (optional) around the peppers in the jar.

3Make the vinegar brine: In a small saucepan, combine the vinegar, salt, sugar, allspice berry, and peppercorns. Bring to a simmer and cook until the salt and sugar dissolve.

4Pour the brine into the jar: Pour the vinegar brine over the peppers. Make sure the brine completely covers all the peppers. Secure the lid on the jar until it’s “finger-tight” (meaning snug but not overly cranked).

5Cool and refrigerate: Set the jar aside on your counter and let it cool completely to room temperature. Once cooled, transfer the jar to your refrigerator. For the best flavor, refrigerate pickled peppers overnight before enjoying them. If you can wait, they get even better after 2 to 3 days! These quick pickled peppers will last, covered in their brine, in the fridge for up to 1 month.

Adam and Joanne’s Tips

• The jar: We use a 1-quart wide-mouth mason jar (32 ounces or 946ml).
• Peppers: We developed this recipe for sweet peppers (the mini, colorful peppers often sold in bags). The chile de arbol adds a little heat, but for more, feel free to use 2 to 3 of them or swap a portion of the sweet peppers for hotter peppers, such as jalapeños, Fresno, or serrano peppers.
• Allspice berries: These taste like a combination of cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. We found whole allspice berries less common in the grocery spice aisle, but we recommend buying a “pickling spice blend” instead. McCormick’s “Mixed Pickling Spice” contains allspice berries, which we purchased and picked out 1 berry for this recipe. We also use it for making sauerkraut.
• Canning: These pickled peppers have been specifically designed for the refrigerator and are meant to be kept in the fridge at all times. However, if you’re experienced in canning, you could adapt them for long-term shelf stability. This would involve using sanitized jars, new lids, and a pressure canner.
• The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. Calculating how much salt is in the peppers is difficult, so we have included all of the brine in the calculations.

Nutrition Per Serving
Serving Size
1/8 of the jar (about 2 ounces)
/
Calories
42
/
Total Fat
0.2g
/
Saturated Fat
0g
/
Cholesterol
0mg
/
Sodium
449.3mg
/
Carbohydrate
7.1g
/
Dietary Fiber
1.4g
/
Total Sugars
5.6g
/
Protein
0.7g

AUTHOR:

Joanne Gallagher

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